Lorraine Caputo, V!VA Chile Author Reports from Argentina

In Chile, the Santiago airport was damaged & Argentine airports are receiving the flights. Seven regions have been declared emergency zones (what I heard on Argentine TV), stretching from the Metropolitan area & Región V south to Región VIII.

El Mercurio has a blog where people are posting damages — Electricity was knocked out for a while as far south as Pto Montt, & there’s a report of damage on Chiloé. Valdivia & nearby towns suffered damage. Some of the reports (like from Talca) are quite harrowing .

Besides infrastructure, roads & bridges being destroyed, another serious factor is gasoline and diesel. The country’s major refineries are in the hardest hit area. The government figures they have enough gasoline (bencina in Chileno) for 8 days & diesel for 6 days.